Paid Android Wear Apps Currently Impossible Thanks to DRM

Developers finally got their hands on the final version of the Android Wear SDK at Google I/O last month, and have set to work building apps for Google's smart watch platform. Wear apps don't work exactly like regular Android apps, and that seems to have led to some unintended consequences. It is currently impossible to distribute a traditional paid app via Google Play for Android Wear.

Developers finally got their hands on the final version of the Android Wear SDK at Google I/O last month, and have set to work building apps for Google's smart watch platform. Wear apps don't work exactly like regular Android apps, and that seems to have led to some unintended consequences. It is currently impossible to distribute a traditional paid app via Google Play for Android Wear.

There is no Play Store client on an Android Wear watch like the Samsung Galaxy Gear Live or LG G Watch. Instead, apps in the Play Store on the phone come packaged with Android Wear modules that are detected by the Wear app and synced over to the watch via Bluetooth. The entire process happens automatically, except in the case of paid apps. The problem, as it often does, stems from DRM.

Google's anti-piracy scheme for Android apps encrypts paid apps so they can't be moved to unauthorized devices. That's fine most of the time, but the Android Wear app that passes wearable modules over to the watch doesn't know how to open the encrypted app archive. There are no error messages or warnings about this--the app just doesn't install to the watch. Developers are understandably miffed.

Clearly, Google screwed up on this one. The only way for developers to collect money for a Wear-enabled app is to have an in-app purchase or make a separate premium license app. That's workable for new apps specifically for Wear, but not so much for existing apps that are simply adding Wear functionality. Google is probably working on a fix for this, which likely involves a Play Store or Wear app update.

About the Author

Ryan Whitwam is a freelance tech/science writer and fan of all things electronic. This long-time skeptic and former research scientist is a lover of the em dash and a defender of the Oxford comma. He also writes for Geek.com and ExtremeTech.
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